Olympus C-7000 Wide ZoomSeven megapixels, 5x zoom, great pictures, a ton of features, and great build quality - A real winner!<<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:OpticsReview First Posted: 11/26/04 |
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The
Olympus C-7000 Zoom is equipped with 5x, 7.9-39.5mm lens, providing a range
of angular coverage equivalent to that of a 38-190mm zoom on a 35mm film camera.
The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 -f/4.8 (depending on the lens' current
zoom setting).
Focus ranges from 2.0 feet (60 centimeters) to infinity in Normal mode, with a Macro mode ranging from 0.3 feet (8 centimeters). A Super Macro mode lets you get as close as 0.8 inches (2.0 centimeters).
The camera's TTL (through the lens) autofocus system uses a contrast-detect method to gauge focus. The green LED next to the optical viewfinder glows solid as soon as the subject is in focus. (A flashing green LED generally means there's a problem focusing, so you may need to switch to Macro mode, back away from the subject, or get more light on it for the AF system to "see" by.) An AF-assist light on the front of the camera helps it focus in low lighting, and can be disabled through the camera's settings menu. Although the C-7000 Zoom doesn't feature an automatic focus lock, you can manually lock both exposure and focus by centering the desired portion of the subject in the frame, half-pressing the Shutter button, and then recomposing the image while continuing to half-press the Shutter button. The AE / AF / Erase button on the rear panel accesses the camera's AF area options (Spot, iESP, and Area). In Spot mode, the camera bases focus on the very center of the subject. iESP mode instead puts the camera in charge of the AF area. The Area option lets you manually select the AF area by moving the central AF target mark to virtually any position on the LCD display using the arrow keys. (Note that you cannot manually set the AF area if digital zoom is enabled, and the option will not show up on the menu either.) Additionally, the C-7000 Zoom's Fulltime AF option (enabled through the settings menu) continuously adjusts focus, regardless of whether the Shutter button is half-way pressed or not.
A manual focus option is available by pressing and holding the OK / Menu button on the back panel, which displays the manual focus distance scale on the LCD monitor. The up and down arrow keys adjust the focus distance, and the right and left keys select between MF and AF focus modes. When you adjust the focus manually, the LCD viewfinder display changes to show a 2x magnified view of the central portion of the image while you're actually adjusting the focus, to make it easier to see whether or not your subject is in focus. The display returns to normal size once you release the up or down arrow button. I really like the C-7000's use of a bar graph focusing distance display, combined with numbers indicating specific distances. Some cameras offer only a bar graph display, with no numeric information, a much less useful arrangement, in my opinion. Having specific numbers to refer to can be invaluable in low-light situations, where there's not enough light to see whether the subject is in focus on the LCD screen, and your only option is to estimate the distance to the subject.
As much as 6x of digital zoom is available in addition to the 5x optical zoom, increasing the C-7000 Zoom's total zoom range to 30x. Digital zoom is only accessible when the LCD monitor is engaged; when the LCD is turned off, the digital zoom returns to the 1x setting. It also cannot be used with the uncompressed TIFF and RAW modes. As always though, remember that digital zoom just "stretches" the image from the central portion of the CCD, which directly trades off resolution for magnification. Digital zoom images will always be softer and less sharp than those with equivalent magnification delivered entirely by an optical zoom lens.
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